I recently had the chance to host a coffee omakase (Japanese term meaning ”Leave it up to the chef) at my shop. I’ll provide an outline of this first omakase and some tips along the way. I’m hoping this will inspire you to host a coffee tasting in your shop or at home with your friends and family! All the pictures in this post are from my practice run with my staff. This would be my first tip: Practice, practice, practice. Practice your recipes, know your ingredients and be ready for things to go wrong, because they inevitably will.

Course one and two: Cold Brew Soda and Cold Brew

For my first courses I went with something simple and approachable to get my guests comfortable. For most people, attending any type of curated coffee experience will be new to them. The cold brew soda was a mix of cold brew coffee, sparkling water and orange syrup. It was sweet and refreshing. I then offered my guests the cold brew black so they could see and taste the contrast.

*TIP*: Mise en place – have your work station and guest stations laid out and ready before your guests arrive. It shows preparedness and makes the flow much easier during the session.

Course three: Chemex

For the third course I prepared a more traditional hot filter coffee using the Chemex brewer. This allows you to showcase the coffee itself and talk to your guests about brewing coffee.

Course four and five: Espresso and Dessert

The fourth and fifth courses were offered to paying guests but were skipped during the staff session to save time.

I prepared a single espresso for every guest so they could see how different the same coffee could be using a different brewing method.

It was important to me to offer a food item to elevate the experience and help guests avoid jitters from too much caffeine on an empty stomach. For dessert we prepared a chocolate pot de créme topped with espresso whipped cream and espresso jelly.

Course six: Signature beverage

The last course is where you want to impress your guests. Send them home with something to remember.

For my signature beverage I prepared a pistachio shaken espresso for which you can find the recipe here!

This shaken beverage has a showy element to it with the shaking and the fancy glassware. This last course is your last opportunity to WOW your guests, use it wisely.

Conclusion

A coffee omakase is a great opportunity to practice your coffee skills, share with other coffee fans, and build a local coffee community. I will be repeating these tastings with different recipes as time goes on to keep my skills sharp and encourage people to try new things and discover what coffee can really be.